Francis e



(No Model.)

F.E. BENTON.

LAST.

No. 518,985. Patented May 1,1894.

' 'WiineSSes.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS E. BENTON, OF STOUGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming'part of Letters Patent No. 518,985, dated May 1,1894.

Applicatiou filed August 5,1893. Serial No. 482.456- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS E. BENTON, a citizen oftheUnited States,residing at Stough ton, in the county of Norfolk and State ofMaesaohusetts, have invented certain new and use- .fulImprovementsinLasts for Boots and Shoes; and I do declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

and to the letters of reference marked thereon,

which form a part of this specification.

The special object of the invention is to improve the means by which thetop and body of a last may be easily connected or disconnected.

The invention will first be described in connection with the drawingsand then pointed out in the claim.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a longitudinal vertical section, showing myinvention applied to a last, and Fig. 2 a vertical cross-section. Fig. 3is a detail view of the opposite 2 5 faces of the two plates which looktogether.

In the drawings, A represents a last having the usual body a anddetachable top-piece a. B is a tube having the dovetail tenon b on itslower end and is vertically fittedin the top-piece a, while 0 is a tubeextending vertically through the body a and provided with a dovetailgroove-seat c to receive said tenon.

E is a pin with a collar 6 about the middle and preferably but notnecessarily with a conical point on the upper end. The collar downwardprojection of pin E is surrounded by a spiral spring F whose 'lower endrests upon a tension screw D. The tube 0 has an interior thread at itslower end to engage the thread on the screw. As soon as the plates arebrought together so as to make the tubes B O register, the pin E isforced up by the spring to enter the tube B and lock the two sections ofthe last.

In the tube 0, between the screw Dand the I bottom-flange e of the coneE, I arrange the coiled spring F. When'the top-piece a is down on thebody a, the coneE presses down the spring F'until the hole b registerswith it, when the cone enters this hole and locks the pieces a asecurely together. On the other hand, when the locked top-piece ispushed up, the spring yields, allows the cone E to leave its socket andthe top-piece a is readily separated from the body a. The tension-screwmay be used to augment the spring pressure when the spring has lost anyof its tension by wear or otherwise.

What I claim as new is The tube B seated in the upperlast-section

